These papers, published in Tax Notes, examine and analyze the three main international provisions in the 2017 tax act. Part 1 of this report discusses how one could more crisply, comprehensively, and accurately conceptualize international tax policy than through the outdated and unhelpful language of “worldwide versus territorial.” It also explores the reasons for several key margins’ normative ambiguity, which include the tension between what I call unilateral and strategic approaches to international tax policymaking. Only the latter involves considering how a given country’s international tax policy choices might subsequently affect other countries’ behavior. Thus, for example, engaging in tax competition is not inherently strategic in my sense of the term. Indeed, tax competition fails to be strategic if it involves overlooking how one’s own tax law changes might affect what other countries later do. Unfortunately, although all sophisticated actors in international tax policy should consider the strategic aspect, it tends to make the underlying policy choices even harder to parse confidently. Strategic interactions are often unpredictable, and even more so when they involve government actors who are subject to the vagaries of domestic politics.

A panel of legal and theological authorities came together at Harvard Law School to discuss the topic, Christianity and the Common Good. Presented by Harvard with the Thomistic Institute, which aims to promote intellectual Christian thought at universities, the conference brought together a number of guests including Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch ’91, who gave the keynote address. (Justice Gorsuch’s address was closed to the press.)

In one panel discussion, three distinguished guests—Fr. Dominic Legge of the Thomistic Institute, Adrian Vermeule ’93, Ralph S. Tyler Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School, and Jacqueline Rivers, professor of African-American studies at Harvard University—explored the topic of the common good from the respective viewpoints of Christian philosophy, black cultural history, and political theory.

The 2017 Tax Act, sometimes called the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, has been heralded by some as historic reform and by others as Armageddon. This Collection analyzes the Act, exploring the process by which it was passed, the values that undergird its policies, and how specific provisions will affect the structure of the U.S. and global economy moving forward.

Rebecca M. Kysar (Fordham), Critiquing (and Repairing) the New International Tax Regime, 128 Yale L.J. F. 339 (Oct. 25 2018): "The 2017 Tax Act significantly changed the U.S. international tax regime. The legislation, however, failed to solve existing problems and opened the door to new ones. This Essay addresses these shortcomings, and outlines recommendations for a better approach."

Susan C. Morse (Texas), International Cooperation and the 2017 Tax Act, 128 Yale L.J. F. 362 (Oct. 25 2018): "Some have criticized the 2017 Tax Act for lowering the corporate tax rate. This Essay argues instead that Congress deserves credit for bringing the U.S. rate in line with other OECD countries, potentially saving the corporate tax by establishing a minimum global rate."

The National Taxpayer Advocate will convene the 4th International Conference on Taxpayer Rights on May 23 and 24, 2019, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The conference is hosted by the University of Minnesota School of Law and sponsored by Tax Analysts, with technical assistance from IBFD. The 2019 conference will explore the role of taxpayer rights in the digital age, and the implications of the expanding digital environment for transparency, certainty, and privacy in tax administration.

We are currently seeking presentation and paper proposals on a range of topics. In developing proposals, the conference encourages proposals from multiple disciplines (e.g., from the fields of law, economics, psychology, anthropology, sociology, computer science as well as from government officials and ombuds and taxpayer advocates) that address the following topics:

TaxReform Gone Wrong: Exposing the High Cost of Trump Tax Cuts for People of Color:

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, also known as #TrumpTaxCuts, made sweeping changes to our tax laws. Far from addressing, fixing, or improving institutional racism in the tax code that financially disadvantages people of color, the new law strengthened some of these provisions and even added new ones. The panel of tax scholars will deconstruct and discuss these changes and suggest how we might move forward.

Even in the era of Me Too, many academics report that annual meetings of disciplinary associations are environments where rude and/or harassing behavior is all too common. Disciplinary meetings feature large power imbalances — young scholars seeking jobs and senior scholars doing interviews. Many of those interviews take place in decidedly unprofessional locations such as hotel rooms. And some academics see these meetings as a chance to drink to excess and to encourage a (legally and ethically questionable) philosophy of "what happens at the annual meeting, stays at the annual meeting."

The American Historical Association has released a summary of a survey it conducted of those who have attended its annual meeting over any of the last five years. The association found significant minorities of its members reported that they had experienced demeaning or insulting behavior. And a small minority (but one that the association summary says is still of concern) experienced harassment of various types.

Diane Klein (La Verne) seeks tax professors interested in joining a panel proposal for a Hot Topics panel on Trump and Taxes at the AALS Annual Meeting in New Orleans (Jan. 2-6, 2019). The recent New York Times story about the Trump family empire implicates a variety of tax and estate-planning issues. Panelists are sought with interest and expertise in any or all of the following: estate/gift tax (current and historical perspectives), real estate and taxation, corporate tax, tax minimization, New York taxes, family tax planning — or any other tax issue that may be relevant. Proposals are due October 19, 2018, so please contact Prof. Klein at by October 12, 2018, with a description of your contribution.

Individual & Family Taxation — SALT Deduction Limit Workarounds Panel. This panel will discuss the various strategies that States are implementing to provide a workaround to the 2017 Tax Act’s state and local tax deduction limit. In general, these programs use contributions to various state-sponsored funds or programs that offer a credit against state tax liability. The panel will evaluate and discuss the legal merits of such workarounds.

Neil Buchanan (George Washington) has issued his annual call for tax papers and panels for next year's annual meeting of the Law & Society Association in Washington, D.C. (May 30 - June 2, 2019):

For the fifteenth year in a row, I will organize sessions for the Law, Society, and Taxation group (Collaborative Research Network 31). For the third year in a row, I am pleased to be joined in these organizational efforts by Professors Jennifer Bird-Pollan and Mirit Eyal-Cohen.

Although there is an official call for papers, please remember that you are not bound by the official theme of the conference. We will give full consideration to proposals in any area of tax law, tax policy, distributive justice, interdisciplinary approaches to tax issues, and so on.

The deadline for submissions is before midnight (Eastern Time) Wednesday, November 7, 2018.

Organizers of the newly-formed Trusts & Estates Collaborative Research seek proposals that explore any aspect of the law, practice or effects of trusts and estates, broadly defined. Successful proposals likely will bear in some way on succession (also referred to as inheritance) and/or wealth transfers (whether at death or during lifetime, outright or in trust). Subjects of inquiry may involve any aspect of government or social policy with respect to trusts, estates, inheritance, wealth transfer, equity or courts with jurisdiction over these issues.

If you would like to present a paper as part of a Trusts and Estates CRN panel, please submit a 500-word abstract by Monday, October 8, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. GMT to the CRN chairs, Professor Bridget Crawford and Professor Kate Galloway. The CRN chairs will then attempt to organize the papers into panels with cohesive themes.

Full-time and part-time faculty of the IU McKinney School of Law convened together with campus and university partners from the IUPUI Center for Teaching and Learning and Indiana University e-Learning Design and Services for the second annual “Upward!” teaching symposium at the beginning of Fall Semester 2017. The two-day gathering involved panel discussions on topics including online teaching, online course design, teaching externships, designing lessons for the law school’s active learning classrooms, teaching international students, and teaching with an eye to the bar exam. Participants enjoyed a field trip to IUPUI campus offices supporting the university’s teaching mission, including the Center for Teaching and Learning and the recording studio. Panelists contributed to this joint publication, which includes sole- or joint-authored submissions by Professors Adams, Baker, Boyne, Huffman, Ryznar, Shope, and Sullivan; an introduction by Dean Klein and Professor Huffman; and reactions to the primary papers. These submissions reflect a variety of scholarly methods, drawing from empirical study, anecdotal observation, and theoretical analysis.

It's already time to think about SEALS 2019! The conference will be held July 28-August 3, 2019 in Boca Raton, Florida. The conference submission tool is now open, and I am eager to coordinate people who are interested in presenting tax work at the SEALS conference into relevant panel groups. In addition, we have also had very successful Tax Policy Discussion Groups in recent years. Panels are generally composed of 4 to 5 people speaking for 15 to 20 minutes each. I will attempt to group papers so that panels include papers on similar topics. The Discussion Group includes about 10 people, each speaking for 5-8 minutes on a topic related to tax policy, broadly interpreted. This has often included topics that are not necessarily fully formed paper ideas, but are thoughts the presenter has had on something he or she would like to discuss with a group of smart, informed people in an informal setting. Both types of presentation have been very successful in the past. Each presenter may participate in one Panel AND one Discussion Group.

So, if you are interested in submitting to SEALS and would like me to include you in a group of other tax profs, please email jbirdpollan@uky.edu with the following information:

We invite you to submit a paper to the upcoming Australasian Tax Teachers’ Association’s 31st Annual Conference. The theme of the conference is Taxation, Innovation and Education: Tax in a Changing World.

The Curtin Law School at Curtin University will host the conference at the Duxton Hotel in Perth from 16th to 18th January 2019.

Tax Reform in the Trump EraCongress and the Trump administration are working hard to institute a series of tax reforms focused in a variety of different areas, ranging from changing the individual rate structure to altering the international tax regime. This discussion group considers a variety of issues raised in the tax reform arena. Members of the discussion group consider both reforms already enacted by Congress and alternative proposals that either may still be enacted or that should have been enacted.

Alice Abreu (Temple)

Jennifer Bird-Pollan (Kentucky ) (moderator)

Neil Buchanan (George Washington)

William Byrnes (Texas A&M)

Cliff Fleming (BYU)

David Gamage (Indiana)

Rebecca Morrow (Wake Forest)

Shu-Yi Oei (Boston College)

Bret Wells (Houston)

Tax Law and Statutory InterpretationParticipants in this panel consider a variety of issues related to the design of particular tax law provisions, and the way that the drafting of tax legislation affects how that law will be interpreted. Topics considered include the taxation of employment non-compete arrangements, state level wealth transfer tax provisions, tax-exemption provisions, and social justice as it applies to particular taxpayers affected by the system.

Tax Compliance and Tax Privacy: This panel will explore cutting-edge issues in tax compliance, domestic information reporting and international information sharing, and tax privacy. The topics include recent developments in the behavioral economics and psychology of tax compliance, the rapidly evolving use of technology and big data in tax enforcement and its impact on the privacy of taxpayers, tax information and the suppression of political rivals, and related issues.

William Byrnes (Texas A&M) (moderator)

Leandra Lederman (Indiana)

Francine Lipman (UNLV)

Bret Wells (Houston)

The Future of Tax LawThis panel considers a variety of matters related to tax law design. Among the topics to be considered are matters related to international tax law design, social justice in the application of tax law to individual low-income taxpayers, the taxation of marijuana, the taxation of robots, and public-private partnerships. In each instance, the elements of good tax law design will be considered and applied to the issue in question.

The Dennis J. Block Center for the Study of International Business Law will sponsor a Scholars’ Roundtable on November 16-17, 2018 at Brooklyn Law School. Scholars writing in a diverse range of fields related to international business, economic, and financial law are invited to submit proposals to present works in progress for an intense day of discussion with other scholars in the field. Participants will be expected to read all papers in advance of the Roundtable and offer commentary on each of the presentations.

Scholars selected for the Roundtable will receive a $500 stipend from Brooklyn Law School to defray the cost of attendance.

Requirements for Submission

Applicants must hold a fulltime tenured, tenure-track, or visitor/fellowship position at a law school or university. Scholars from outside the U.S. are encouraged to apply.

Scholars who anticipate holding a faculty appointment in the 2019-2020 academic year are also welcome.

Applicants should submit a 2-5 - page proposal, abstract, or summary of the paper. All papers presented must be unpublished at the time of the Roundtable. Papers that have been accepted for publication but are not yet in print are welcome.

The Chapman Law Review is pleased to invite article submissions on the theme: The Commerce Clause and the Global Economy. Publications will appear in a symposium edition, and authors will receive an honorarium.

With the growth of online retailers and the rise of the global marketplace, federal and state governments have been charged with the task of navigating the waters of the global economy and its inevitable collision with the Commerce Clause. In June, the United States Supreme Court is expected to render a decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, in which South Dakota has asked the Court to reconsider its ruling in Quill v. North Dakota and allow states to require out-of-state retailers that do not have a physical presence in the state to collect local sales taxes from their customers. Regardless of the outcome, this case has opened up a series of questions about the scope of the Commerce Clause in an increasingly global economy—specifically the ability of state and local governments to regulate global economic actors in order to protect communities against the adverse effects of globalization.

Last year, I attended the 2017 ABA New Deans Conference after being a dean all of six days. This year, I have the honor (with Lyrissa Lidsky (Missouri)) of addressing two dozen new law school deans at the 2018 conference about what we have learned about this job over the past twelve months. The conference is a technology-free zone, so unfortunately I cannot play George Washington's words in One Last Times from Hamilton:

I wanna talk about what I have learnedThe hard-won wisdom I have earned ...

Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration,I am unconscious of intentional error,I am nevertheless too sensible of my defectsnot to think it probable that I may have committed many errors.

The hope that my [law school] will view them with indulgence;And that after [one year] of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zealThe faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion.

The 4th Annual Texas Tax Faculty Workshop at Texas Tech on June 1st went splendidly with robust discussion fueled by plenty of caffeine and carbs. I thought it would be fun to post a picture of the 11 of us when ended up being able to attend. After all, tax profs are usually just names on a page. But we are persons too! Here's proof. From left to right are: Bret Wells (UH); Bryan Camp (Texas Tech); Denney Wright (UH and NYU); Andy Morris (A&M); Bruce McGovern (South Texas); Cal Johnson (UT); Terri Helge (A&M) standing behind Dennis Drapkin (SMU); Bill Byrnes (A&M)(giving thumbs up); Steve Black (Texas Tech) standing behind Jack Manhire (A&M).

A baker's dozen tax professors are gathering in Lubbock, Texas, at Texas Tech University School of Law today for the fourth annual Texas Tax Faculty Workshop. Susan Morse (UT) started the gatherings---you guessed it---four years ago. Here is the agenda for this year:

The dates and locations of the next two annual Employee Benefits & Social Insurance Conferences are:Academic Year 2018–2019 Friday, March 29, 2019 University of Illinois College of Law Organized by Sean Anderson (smander@illinois.edu; 217-244-8256)

Since December 2017, tax conferences in the United States have focused substantially on the H.R. 1 tax reform legislation. No surprise there — the 2017 changes are among the most significant in the past thirty years. But over the past five months, through attending numerous tax conferences featuring international tax practitioners, I’ve observed some interesting developments in the nature of the discussions and debates at these conferences. These changes are pretty revealing about the process of absorbing the true impact of the new tax law, particularly in international tax. This weekend’s ABA May Tax Section Meeting in Washington, D.C. highlighted some of these trends.

The 111th Annual Conference on Taxation will cover a broad range of topics including, but not limited to, taxation and tax policies; expenditure policies; government budgeting; intergovernmental fiscal relations; and subnational, national, and international public finance. The conference will focus, as always, on policy-relevant research bearing on taxation and government spending.

You are invited to submit the following: individual papers to be integrated into sessions, proposals for complete sessions of papers, and proposals for panel discussions. The submission deadline is June 1, 2018. Decisions concerning the inclusion of papers and sessions will be announced in July 2018. All presenters, including members of panel discussions, must then register and pay a conference registration fee.

You are also invited to volunteer to be a discussant or a session chair. Decisions concerning discussants and session chairs will be made at a later date. All discussants and session chairs must then register and pay a conference registration fee.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) profoundly changed the tax incentives facing multinational corporations. Join a distinguished panel of experts at an event hosted by the Economic Policy Institute to hear about how the TCJA will affect the offshoring of corporate profits and production. Kimberly Clausing (Reed College), Rebecca Kysar (Brooklyn), and Chye-Ching Huang (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities) will provide a detailed discussion of how various provisions in the law will shape international patterns of production and profit-shifting by multinationals. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) will provide opening remarks, and Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) will provide closing remarks.

The AALS Tax Section committee is pleased to announce the following Call for Papers:

CALL FOR PAPERS: AALS SECTION ON TAXATION WORKS-IN-PROGRESS SESSION 2019 ANNUAL MEETING, JANUARY 2-6, 2019, NEW ORLEANS, LA NEW VOICES IN TAX POLICY AND PUBLIC FINANCE (co-sponsored by the Section on Nonprofit and Philanthropy Law and Section on Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation)

The AALS Section on Taxation is pleased to announce the following Call for Papers. Selected papers will be presented at a works-in-progress session at the 2019 AALS Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA from January 2-6, 2019. The works-in-progress session is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, January 5.

Creating connections and collaborations between people across the legal world, including academics, practitioners, legal technology experts, and others. Moving the legal profession and legal education into the 21st century and beyond. Those are the goals of an April 30 summit at Vanderbilt Law School called SoLI: The Summit on Law and Innovation.